- Jake Paul defeated Mike Tyson by unanimous decision in their massive boxing match on Netflix on Friday night.
- However, the biggest news of the night was the issues Netflix had regarding streaming the fight to over 60 million viewers.
- Netflix is about to start streaming WWE Raw in 2025, along with two NFL regular-season games on Christmas Day.
After months of build-up and one postponement due to health issues, Jake Paul and Mike Tyson finally fought in the boxing ring on Friday, November 15. Many were truly interested to see if the 58-year-old Tyson would be able to hang with the 27-year-old Paul.
The fight went the way many people figured it would, as Paul easily defeated Tyson by unanimous decision. But the main story emerging from the match was Netflix’s inability to handle the massive viewership that was attempting to stream the fight.
Paul Beats Tyson, Netflix Streaming Gets KO’d by Large Crowd
The Jake Paul-Mike Tyson odds for the fight had Paul as a considerable favorite at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. This fight was originally supposed to be held in the summer, but Tyson had to postpone due to an ulcer flare-up on a flight. Instead, Paul knocked out former MMA and bare-knuckle champion Mike Perry in July.
The fight was extremely uneventful as Tyson came out flying, winning the first two rounds on the scorecard. But Paul fought a smart fight, and let the 58-year-old Tyson tire himself out before getting going with some combinations. Paul also took his foot off the gas in the later rounds, when it looked like he could have easily knocked Tyson out in a show of respect to the former champion. Paul would cruise to a unanimous decision to take his record to 11-1, while both men walked away with a generous payday.
But the bigger story is Netflix’s streaming issues. It is reported that 60 million households watched the fight. However, millions of viewers dealt with a laggy stream, and nonstop buffering that made it almost unwatchable. It was especially bad during the Katie Taylor-Amanda Serrano fight, which was the best bout of the night. However, viewers would watch one round, and then miss two or three, because of the buffering issues. Taylor would beat Serrano in a highly controversial unanimous decision.
How Badly Does Netflix Need to Fix These Streaming Issues?
Netflix has yet to comment publicly on the streaming issues, although they did get a small joke off on their X account, claiming the fight had their “buffering systems on the ropes”.
But there is no joke regarding how badly Netflix has to fix this. Streaming will begin for WWE’s Raw on Monday nights on January 6, 2025. This relationship began with Netflix airing a documentary about Vince McMahon in September.
But more pressing is Netflix’s deal with the NFL to air two regular-season games on Christmas Day. Pittsburgh hosts the two-time defending Super Bowl champions from Kansas City in the early game, followed by Baltimore’s visit to Houston. These are four very popular teams, and it’s Christmas Day, so everyone will be home and trying to watch these games. Not only that, Netflix just announced that Beyoncé would be performing at halftime of Ravens-Texans, as she is from Houston.
If what happened on Friday night, happens during the NFL games, Netflix could lose countless customers on Christmas Day. Netflix has over 280 million customers, and a large chunk of that viewership will tune in on December 25, so they have a lot to work on in the next five weeks. You could find some “Netflix streaming” options among your best NFL props for that week.
